Have you ever dreamed of being your own boss? Do you have a great business idea that you would like to carry out? There is no better time to start a business than now! 14 million American women own or run a business; Women-owned businesses employ a whopping 27.5 million people. According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, almost half (46%) of all businesses are owned by a woman or women at least 50%. Women are taking risks and succeeding as entrepreneurs!
Today’s women entrepreneurs are innovators, problem solvers, and have taken the reins of their future. Almost 60% of women who have made the transition from traditional jobs to the corporate world state that nothing would attract them back to the corporate world. Are you thinking of starting your own business? Here are six driving reasons why entrepreneurship is the way to go:
1. Financial independence
Entrepreneurship has proven to be an important vehicle that people use to achieve financial freedom. One of the fastest ways to build wealth is to start a business; 74% of rich people are business owners (not employees). From legends like Madam CJ Walker to the best-known visionaries of our time like Bill Gates and Michael Dell, we have mounting evidence that people have used their businesses to create millions, if not billions, of dollars in personal wealth. . While not all companies may be billion-dollar companies, we see phenomenal success in people whose entrepreneurial endeavors generate modest cash flow whose business income has allowed them to pay off debt, send loved ones to college , fund retirement accounts and much more.
2. Creating Multiple Streams of Income
This is one of my favorites! As a business owner, you have a world of options at your fingertips. You can leverage your knowledge and experience to create multiple streams of income from a single idea. Let’s take a simple cake example. Let’s say your passion is making cherry pie. Everyone loves and requests your cherry pies all the time. You decide that you can make some extra money selling your delicious cherry pies, so you charge $10 per pie, and people gladly pay. Business is great! But don’t stop there. You can create additional avenues of income by sharing some of your “special secrets” by giving cake-making classes, selling a cake or cake recipe book, having local stores and/or chains stock your cakes on their shelves, offering services from caterers, offering to show others how to start their own cake business, start a cherry pies mail-order business, sell cake-making accessories and specialty baking items, and the list goes on. I have just listed 7 possible streams of income from a single idea. Think about the business you would like to start. How many streams of income can you identify?
3. Flexibility
For the most part, as a business owner, you enjoy the flexibility to work when you want, how you want, and in some cases, where you want. The Center For Women’s Business Research tells us that 51% of women said that the main reason for starting their own business was a desire for greater flexibility. You can determine your working hours; If family commitments are important, you’ll have the ability to attend functions and events that are important to you without having to ask someone else for time off. You are the boss! An author might work on a manuscript while at her daughter’s soccer game using a laptop. A consultant can schedule clients around activities you enjoy and prefer not to miss. What matters most to you? Are you missing out on important activities due to time constraints and job duties? Have you missed something important due to work obligations too many times? Your own business can be the key to ceasing to simply exist and instead gaining control over your life and living abundantly with no regrets.
4. Tax Benefits
The numerous tax benefits recognized by entrepreneurs are reasons in themselves to start a business. The government favors small businesses and really wants to help you succeed! You can get the most tax benefits by incorporating. While determining the best legal entity for your business should be discussed with your tax advisor, I highly recommend incorporating for almost all businesses. Small businesses are eligible to deduct car expenses, including mileage and depreciation, home office, personal assets, entertainment, travel, and retirement deductions. An expense is usually deductible if, in IRS terms, it is “ordinary, necessary, and reasonable.” A critical difference between taxing an employee vs. business owner is that employees pay taxes before their expenses, while businesses pay taxes after their expenses. That is a big difference! Once again, it is worth discussing specific tax issues with a qualified advisor, as they are well worth the investment, in addition to your deductible!
5. Purpose
Some of us are called to the marketplace in the same way that others are called to medicine, teaching, or other professions. Your deep desire to start your own business may be for specific God-ordained reasons. Your product or service could be exactly what millions of people need! Where your passion is, often is your purpose. Do not miss the opportunity. Do not be discouraged by lack of resources (time, money, manpower, etc…). Provision will be provided for your vision during the proper season. Think of all the amazing things we have today that we can’t even imagine living without, like bridges, planes, electricity, and the list goes on. It all started with a vision, a concept in the mind of someone with a passion and purpose to make it happen. Your business could be the necessary catalyst for positive change in many, many lives. What is your big idea? The world is waiting!
6. Challenge and reward
Make no mistake about it, entrepreneurship is hard, very hard work. It is challenging, but immensely rewarding. The initial stages of starting your own business could possibly be the most difficult you’ll ever work in your life and also be one of the most rewarding experiences. As an entrepreneur, you can see the direct results of your work, immediately and over time. Successful entrepreneurs see challenges as opportunities to succeed. It may be time for you to take a step of faith, stepping away from the perceived security of a steady job and into the world of entrepreneurship. There are countless organizations whose primary mission is to help you succeed on your entrepreneurial journey. The point is, yes, there are challenges, but despite the challenges, you don’t have to do it all alone. Ask any entrepreneur and they’ll tell you that the rewards far outweigh the challenges, any day.
I sincerely hope that you are motivated to start your business, either as a part-time vehicle for additional income or as a full-time venture. There are countless resources available to help you with your endeavor. As I say goodbye, I want to share with you one of my favorite Teddy Roosevelt quotes from a speech he gave in 1910.
~”It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the deed-maker could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is really in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who fights valiantly, who errs and falls short time and time again, because there is no effort without error or fault, but who knows great enthusiasms, great devotions, who devotes himself to a worthy cause; who, in At best, he knows, in the end, the triumph of great achievements, and that, at worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring great, so that his place will never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat”.